EE admits broadband customer service 'simply not good enough'

EE has announced a major overhaul of its broadband customer service as it admitted it is still falling short of what customers “expect and deserve”.

The company said it has launched a ‘Broadband Service First’ programme that has been prompted by a continued high volume of complaints.

The programme includes the creation of a new Broadband Operations Hub and up to 500 permanent broadband customer service roles, as well as the introduction of integrated mobile and broadband customer service systems.

There will also be new digital and social media service tools for broadband customers, as well as a dedicated broadband customer hotline.

Earlier this year, Ofcom revealed that EE was the most complained-about broadband and landline provider between January and March 2015.

Announcing the launch of its new customer service drive Francoise Clemes, chief customer service officer at EE, said: “We’ve laid the groundwork to greatly improve service for our mobile customers and we’re already seeing the results.

“In the last year alone complaints about mobile received by Ofcom have dropped by 50%.”

She said while she is proud of the record, there is still more work to do.

“Our broadband service however continues to fall short of what our customers expect and deserve – but I want to reassure them we’re addressing this as a priority," she added.

'Excuses'

“As well as opening a Broadband Operations Hub and bringing in a new team, crucially we are introducing integrated systems so that we can align processes between mobile and broadband.

“I’m not going to offer any excuses because broadband customer service has simply not been good enough.

“I promise all of our customers that service is our top priority and, through Broadband Service First, we will fix this.”

EE, the UK's biggest mobile operator, will contact its broadband customers to outline the steps it is taking to improve customer service levels, including a reminder of how they can contact the teams directly, she said.

The launch of Broadband Service First and the creation of up to 500 new broadband roles follows a recent programme that saw the opening of two new UK call centres and the return of more than 1,000 roles to the UK from overseas call centres, EE said.